The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2001, Page 35

Vol. 56 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
73
Viking Adventure
by Muriel Dodge
When I first saw the ad for “Adventure
Canada’s Millennium Voyage of Discovery
and Floating Photography Symposium,” I was
impressed. The photography portion of this
adventure was not as interesting as the
Millennium Voyage of Discovery, which
entailed following the voyage route of the
Vikings to the New World—Vinland. I have
an Icelandic (Viking) background and have
always been intrigued with the sense of
adventure that prevailed in the days of the
Vikings.
This adventure was to start in Greenland,
follow the Viking trail across Davis Strait to
the north shore of Labrador, south to
Newfoundland and end at St. John’s.
Our journey to the Arctic began with a
very early morning departure from Ottawa by
charter to Kangerlaussuaq, situated at the
head of a 90 mile long Sondre Stromsfjord in
Greenland in the afternoon. We had a bus tour
of the area and got a great view of the
Greenland Ice Cap, where herds of muskox
have taken up residence.
That afternoon we boarded zodiacs (the
first of many trips) that transferred us to our
home for the next 10 days, the ship Lyubov
Orlova.
The interior of the ship was like taking a
step back in history. The furnishings and
decor were 1950s—mirrors, red brocade fur-
niture and brass and wood on the stairways.
The crew of the ship was Russian—the ser-
vice and food were superb.
We got settled quickly in our rooms. I was
very lucky to have two wonderful room-
mates—Sherri and Shirley. Both girls were
from Ontario and both were there for the
adventure.
After a great evening meal, we retired to
our beds. The gentle rocking of the ship and
the drone of the motors contrasted the hurried
events of the day. I soon found myself lulled
into a deep sleep.
Our wakeup call, that morning and all
mornings to follow, was the gentle voice of
Ian Tamblyn, our on-board musician/enter-
tainer/zodiac driver/Viking leader, who
described the weather, geographical position
and a brief itinerary of the day’s events.
This particular morning we were into the
zodiacs early (at dawn) to view one of the
largest glaciers in Greenland, Sukkertoppen.
What a spectacular site—the early morning
sun glistening off the white and deep blue
colours of this gigantic ice field. We all felt
very overwhelmed and insignificant in close
proximity to this massive spectacle of Nature.
We returned to our ship to partake in a very
healthy, delicious breakfast, one of many, and
to talk with the other passengers about our
first “adventure.”
Later in the day, we arrived at the small
village of Kangamiut, Greenland. This vil-
lage’s inhabitants are mostly of Inuit origin
and speak the Greenlandic language. Their
teachers and most of the business people in
the small village speak Danish, Greenlandic
and some English. There are only 500 inhabi-
tants, with a good percentage under the age of
twelve. We were greeted warmly and visited
the church and school where we were enter-
tained by a children’s choir singing in harmo-
ny.
The next forty hours crossing Davis Strait
were, I must admit, not enjoyable for me; the
reason being that I was very seasick. I thought
I had armed myself with the medications,
bracelets, ear patches, etcetera, that were sup-
posed to ward off these nauseous feelings, but
found out that none of these preventive mea-
sures were effective. I ended up being a “land-
lubber lying down below” (to coin the words
of a song).
We woke up the next morning to a mag-
nificent sunrise and the approaching view of
the Torngat Mountains of Northern Labrador.
Around this area are the remains of the settle-
ments named and settled by the Moravian
missionaries. Prior to this, about 6,000 years